Taiwan

TAIPEI (Reuters) - A bridge collapsed into a harbor in northeastern Taiwan on Tuesday, injuring ten people as it crushed several fishing boats, with six crew feared trapped, authorities said.

Hundreds of rescuers scrambled to use cranes, an excavator and other equipment to free the boats, while divers scoured the waters for those trapped.

“The bridge collapsed at around 9:30 a.m. while an oil tanker vehicle was on it, setting the vehicle on fire,” said Shih I-chun, the secretary to the mayor of the port town of Suao, the site of the collapse.

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan’s ruling party on Wednesday urged citizens to avoid visiting Hong Kong after a person from Taiwan was detained in China on state security charges, as Hong Kong’s protests add to already tense relations between Taiwan and Beijing.

China said Lee Meng-chu, an adviser from a small township in Taiwan, who had been missing since Aug. 19 after traveling to the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, was suspected of “engaging in criminal acts that endanger state security”.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan says the U.S. Navy is free to sail through its strait after an American warship did so shortly following warnings from Beijing against foreign interference in its relationship with the island.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Thursday the warship sailed northward through the Taiwan Strait. It said joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance task force was monitoring surrounding waters from start to finish and nothing “unusual” took place.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s main opposition party on Monday picked a populist, pro-China mayor as its candidate for the 2020 presidential race against an incumbent who often bashes Beijing.

The Nationalist Party chose Han Kuo-yu to run against incumbent Tsai Ing-wen in the January election. He defeated former Foxconn Technology chairman Terry Gou in a party primary.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan on Saturday defended a proposal to purchase $2.2 billion in arms from the U.S., following a Chinese announcement that it would sanction any American companies involved in the deal.

U.S. weapons help strengthen Taiwan’s self-defense in the face of a growing military threat from China, the defense ministry said.

“The national army will continue to strengthen its key defense forces, ensure national security, protect its homeland and ensure that the fruits of freedom and democracy won’t be attacked,” the ministry said in a statement.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The Sunday service this week at an unassuming church in Taiwan was especially moving for one man. It was the first time Liao Qiang had worshipped publicly since authorities shut down his church in China seven months ago.

6 June 2019; DW: The potential sale by the United States, Taiwan's main arms supplier, includes more than a hundred tanks, along with anti-tank and Stinger missiles.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry confirmed the request on Thursday and in a speech, President Tsai Ing-wen said "We will keep on strengthening our self-defense capabilities (and) will also keep on being a contributor to regional peace."

The list of weaponry includes:

TAIPEI, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) said Wednesday it would continue supplying products for mainland telecommunications company Huawei despite the U.S. government's ban on the latter.

Mark Liu, chairman of TSMC, told reporters that the company's delivery of products to Huawei in the second half of this year is expected to be better than the same period of last year.

The U.S. government last month announced restrictions on the sale and transfer of U.S. technologies to Huawei over what it claimed were technological threats.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — An artist has erected an inflatable display in Taiwan’s capital to mark an iconic moment in the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests.

The larger-than-life balloon installation, which stands in front of Taipei’s famous Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, portrays a peaceful encounter between a Chinese civilian and the military tanks that contributed to a brutal shutdown of the demonstrations in Beijing on June 4, 1989.

02 Jan 2019; DW: Chinese President Xi says he will "leave no room" for separatist activities, and that Beijing "reserves the option of taking all necessary means," including the use of force, for the Taiwan "reunification."

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said on Wednesday that the island's "unification" with China was not possible under the "one country, two systems" model. She, however, agreed to start a dialogue with Beijing as an exchange between two sovereign states.